Kevin Gallacher
Stephen O’donnell was the unsung hero
It will go down in history as the night we BEAT England 0-0 at Wembley!
After the disappointment of the Czech Republic game, our terrific team performance in London got us right back on an even keel again.
I have been speaking to the likes of John Collins, Ally Mccoist and Graeme Souness since full-time on Friday, and all the guys are chuffed at how well the Scotland players did.
The performances from Billy Gilmour and Kieran Tierney were terrific. They will rightly be highlighted.
Billy is new to international level, but without doubt we have unearthed a little gem there. He could be a mainstay of the team for years to come.
For Kieran to come back from injury, and play with such energy and athleticism, was amazing.
However, nobody let anybody down.
From a personal perspective, the way Stephen O’donnell stood up and was counted gave me as much pleasure as anything on the night.
When you turn in team performances like we did in the first game, individual players are going to be targeted for criticism.
No disrespect to Motherwell, but when you are playing at a club with a lesser name in Scotland, you are kind of frowned upon.
Unless it is Celtic or Rangers, the perception is that you cannot be that good.
So Stephen got a lot stick. Plenty of people were suggesting he had to come out of the side, but without really looking at the way we play as a team in any depth.
He will have doubted his own ability. We all do in these circumstances.
So to be under that pressure, and go to Wembley and play like the way he did for us last Friday – Wow!
What a way to bounce back. Football is a tough sport at the top level in terms of mentality.
You get asked not only if you can take the stick, but also can you recover? And just how well can you recover?
Putting in that performance against the likes of Raheem Sterling, Phil Foden and Jack Grealish proved the mental toughness Stephen has.
If he never plays for Scotland again, he will always be able to look back on last Friday with pride. It was a night he answered all the questions.
We should not be too surprised.
He has had his tests before in his international career, and has always shown his character through the way he has bounced back.
For me, Stephen is one of those players who will always give you 7 out of 10. If he has a bad game, it is still a steady bad game. He is that type of player.
You are always looking for balance in a side. Down the left, you have Kieran Tierney and Andy Robertson and, ideally, you would like that down the righthand side, too.
I think having Scott Mctominay in there gives you that because it allows Stephen to get forward.
The technical ability he showed with his volley was unbelievable.
He so nearly got on the scoresheet.
For a full-back to get that far forward, and get a shot on target, deserves high praise.
Plus the spirit was there in abundance, and it had to be. It was there in all wearing dark blue.
I have always said about games against England that it is about who is up for it most.
You see people today talking about them having put in a poor performance. But they don’t mention the good performance that Scotland have put in to stop them playing well.
England are one of the favourites to win the Euros, but we have gone there, and given ourselves a chance to progress.
Our players now believe they can match up with these superstars, and quite rightly so. They put in a fantastic performance, and all that was missing was a goal.
Now we are back in it, and we have done it the Scottish way – the hard way.